Hotel Provenza Ventimiglia

ok, it was more "collecting a new country" than being really interested in Monaco. Strange, when you go there from Nice airport by bus it costs you 18 € one way, when you go from Nice bus terminal it costs 1 € one way. Monaco is a very clean city. I have never seen so many big and expensive cars. I saw the casino and the castle. Nice, but not spectacular.

I know I always write the same...great weather, such a nice city, good food....but I have to say that Nice was a (very) big surprise for me, I can say that it is my favourite city in Europe (ok, number 2 after Lisbon). You have the mountains, the Cote dŽAzur (when you see the water you know why the name is Cote dŽAzur), the market with fresh vegetables, fruits, honey, oil, soap, you have great restaurants ...

It is Sunday and very wet and miserable here in Antibes. Quite a change from the glorious day we had yesterday. Ideal for computer work in fact... (Except that then things didn't pan out as planned and it is now Monday)

It wasn't my intention to have an entry before my departure but the response to my initial circular has been so overwhelming that I feel it merited an ...

Keeping Clean... the shower offensive Scooby is only the size of a delivery van... 4.8m Long and 2.3m Wide... fits snuggly into a shopping car park space. Height is not an issue as he is 2.6m tall so plenty of room for us shorties! The point is that space on the inside is at a premium, so the shower is "cosy"... but it does the job. Best of all we have a gas water boiler so the water is HOT HOT HOT!! We need to fill up our water tank every few days as there is only enough ...

... at the Monte Carlo Casino. Mark was super keen on feeling like James Bond. He so wishes he was James Bond. It is kind of odd because once you are in the casino it is really quiet and not busy at all. Mark won about 300 euro so we were happy.

We checked out the start and finish line of the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, along with the famous hairpin turn. Even the locals fang it around that corner.

We headed ...

... other spots in Europe, here we didn't need to wear our polar fleeces...) we decided to extend our stay to include the weekend and spoilt ourselves with a stay in a 4 star hotel right near the beach! Its our first splash out since we started and would you believe it was almost in budget!!! Guess the off-season thing really applies here. Its a bit sad that we haven't come here in summer as its a bit chilly still, particularly when the sea breeze comes up. We've been very jealous of the 30 ...

... Then we went to the beach. There was like 8 of us that did this; 2 boys from england, 3 canadians, and 3 of us from the states. The one thing about having a group of people from different countries is that it is inevitable that the topic of politics will arise........... ahhhhh, a frustrating conversation always. Today I think we will be exploring Nice. They have this wonderful fruit and flower market as well as a very cute ...

Janette left for Paris and Kat and l were left to explore spectacular Cote dur Azur further. The great thing about researching a trip is that you can come across (if you look hard enough) some fantastic tips from other travelers blogs or forums. I had come across the email of a guy who sent me his entire Cote de Azur 15 day itinerary....he was well knowledged in the area as he travelers there every year with his wife. Within his itinerary...that was so comprehensive that ...

With the rest of the week I had decided to do the Australian-in-Europe thing and visit as many countries as is humanly possible in a few days. For a small price I could go on the train from Marseille to Ventimiglia, Italy, eat spaghetti and then come back. What a novelty. The train ride took up most of the morning and I arrived in Ventimiglia just before lunch time, much to my disdain, no one had asked for my passport, I later learnt that ...

... some today and its not small, and it only cost 0.80 euro cents. And the ice cream is different, but very good. Yum... ice cream.. hahaa.... ohhhhh and Chocolate, how i love European chocolate and can't wait until tomorrow when i am in Switzerland where i hear the chocolate is even better! I shall be bringing chocolate home that is for sure. Well thats all for today, and tomorrow i am off to Luzern Swizterland on the Train! Can't wait!